4 Reasons Contests are Great for Generating a Buzz on Social Media @BizzMark_Blog #DigitalMarketing for #WomeninBiz

Everyone loves gifts, there is no denying it. As we get older, the number of gifts and occasions to give or receive them grows smaller. Buying gifts for yourself cannot replace the anxious shaking of the hands while you fumble with the wrapping paper and silently wonder if it was necessary for your aunt to wrap it like a mummy.

And winning a present on an online contest is a whole different level of excitement and the knowledge that you were chosen among many is sometimes even more gratifying than the gift itself. From the perspective of a business owner, these are very powerful tools that could be used as a strategic advantage to raise awareness about your brand. Here are four reasons online contests are excellent for spreading the word about your business through social media.

Cost-efficient

To participate, people will, for example, post a photo or a video with your product and an imaginative message. They will tag your profile and ask their friends to share the content and like your page. By doing this, they turn themselves into your marketing team since they will get people who haven’t even heard of your brand talking about your products and services.

Their content will reach many social media users because it will be seen, liked and shared by their friends and acquaintances. Not to mention that the beauty of social networks is that quality content spreads fairly quickly. To sum up, these kinds of campaigns are very cost-efficient considering that most effort put into them stems from the creativity of your subscribers and not your employees.

Great reach

Think about it: you have your usual target audience, people who know about your products or services and who have tried them. And then, there is a sea of people who are unaware of it despite your best efforts. By letting your users be brand ambassadors, you will be extending your reach far more than you might have imagined.

Many social media have geolocation tools, so if you make use of them and turn your contest into a worldwide event, you will create rapport with people from all corners of the world. Also, the trick is to enable worldwide shipping, so that, once your fanbase grows, those people can actually purchase your products. Otherwise, they will need to resort to asking their relatives who live in countries you do deliver to order it for them.

Excellent promotion

Using contests to promote new products and services can create just that perfect buzz you need. You are not only offering gifts, but you are also offering fresh ideas. If you manage to incorporate their feedback in the new offer, such as organizing a competition for the best slogan, those products are as good as sold out.

When it comes to the choice of gifts, if you wish to get as many followers as you can, you need to get creative. If you are, for example, in the fitness business,personalised water bottles with your logo could be the perfect gift for your fans. What could be a more perfect combination than knowing your customers are well hydrated and that they are advertising your brand along the way? Of course, the safest way to increase sales is to give out your own products or services, because you are allowing users to directly try your product.

Nurturing loyalty

Contests are not only a manner to draw new people, but they are also a chance to reward those who are loyal to your brand. Don’t forget, for the word about the contest to spread, it has to start somewhere, and that will be from the people who have already purchased your products or used your services. They will be the initial spark, from which point on the information will expand across their friends and family, all the way to strangers on the other side of the world.

However, don’t reward only the loyal fans from your city or your country. By rewarding people from other places, you are creating future loyal customers who will not only buy your products but also tell others about them. It is important to show that you appreciate everyone’s content, ideas, and opinions in order to build a positive global image of your brand.

If you wish for your brand to receive more attention on social media, then contests are an efficient way to achieve that. Interesting content and ideas have an impressive rate of spreading across different channels, which not only results in more followers but also in a far greater reach than any other type of marketing campaign.

It all boils down to the initial idea you have and then letting your products speak for themselves through the creative work of the brand’s fans. If you show your respect for their work, if you share it, compliment it and of course, reward it accordingly, your customer base can only grow. And since everybody is hoping for a gift, dedicate some time to come up with gift ideas which will reflect your brand and your good opinion on your customers.

About Elaine Bennett

Elaine Bennett is a digital marketing specialist focused on helping Australian startups and small businesses grow. Besides that, she's a regular contributor for @Bizzmark_Blog and writes hands-on articles about business and marketing, as it allows her to reach even more entrepreneurs and help them on their business journey. Follow her on Twitter @ElaineCBennett